Melissa Lenett Brown, 34, of Hawk Street, is charged with trading with convicts without permission and giving convicts articles without consent of the warden.

According to an incident report, authorities were alerted to the smuggling during a check of employees as they entered the property Wednesday morning. Dog units gave a positive signal for tobacco products while walking around Brown’s vehicle. In the vehicle, officers discovered large amounts of tobacco, cigarettes, cellphones and a Green Dot debit card used by inmates.

The report said Brown admitted that over the past month an inmate would pay her $600 to $700 at a time by cash or debit card for the items.

Brown told police she would hide the items in her clothes while walking through checkpoints in the mornings, the report said.

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Why would she risk going to jail? This does not make sense to me. You are free, you are working, you see the life inmates must endure for their wrong doings and you still let greed lead you down the same path...unbelievable!

They could arrest someone every day. Part of the problem is the quality of employees. It is a very under-paid facility. Until the pay scale there is adjusted to a more competitive rate, there will continue to be these kind of problems. "You get what you pay for...."

vibe hit the nail on the head. Whether you want to believe that or not, it's true. We see it all the time, just about every store you go to. Employees who don't have the proper education or upbringing just don't care about their work, their work ethic, or the ramifications of how they perform their job. It's all about self-entitlement. And, no, it doesn't matter about ethnicity....it's true across all racial lines.

You don't like the job, leave and sell yourself somewhere else. " Oh I want the job, yes sir. But I ain't going to work because the pay is to low." Could we be forcing "entitlement babies" into 'forced labor"? The Justice Department needs to look into this case and many others. Forced labor is serious. Having to serve a few hours at a soup kitchen because I am a criminal, on welfare or Section 8 is demeaning to my self esteem.

they do not want, work they will not do, and wages below their standards? Minimum wage at $20 an hour would not instill a "work ethic" in these hang-ons. Raised and never weaned off the government teat.

Why is is so bad to sell them cigs legally? With the amount of taxes that are imposed already, the state could bump it up and make a cool profit to allocate for better staff. On second thought, nah, makes too much sense to do it that way.

I have to disagree with vibe1 when it comes to the pay rate "reason". The woman took the job being well aware of the pay rate; she didn't have to accept employment- there are plenty of people who are willing to work, at her pay rate, who don't have her poor judgement and inability to walk away from "deals with prisoners". Using the "pay rate" is a poor excuse for committing these crimes- the fact is she is unethical, without honor and integrity-regardless of her pay rate.

You missed my point SuzyQ. The people who are ethical, with honor and integrity work elsewhere...because they can and with better pay. The "unethical, without honor and integrity" types are the people who work there...because they can't get the better paying job. Until the state improves the pay scale, this is the face of their staff.

There are hundreds of cell phones in richmond county jail. Enforcement is a complete joke...you mean to tell me there going to charge this lady and not charge all the visitors bringing those phones in there to inmates everyday? If everyone of those inmates cells inside richmond county jail rang at once you could hear it for miles.